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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110601">Where Our Bones Will Rest (To Dust, I Guess)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shm00mzz/pseuds/shm00mzz'>shm00mzz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Leopika Family Brainrot [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunter X Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Children of Characters, Family Fluff, Nonbinary Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter), Recovery, Self-Reflection, Their kid is named Piero, Trans Kurapika, Trans Pregnancy, With a hint of sad, and i dont even care to shake these zipper blues, emperor time got naenae'd, fred is in hell, hey that kinda fits the title woah, i dont like how this turned out but hey who cares, i hate this, idk man theyre just in love, the ship of all time, these mfs deserve the world its true i said so</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:22:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,412</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shm00mzz/pseuds/shm00mzz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Love, and all of the little moments that bloom from it. What they’d been worthy of but unwilling to accept, but it’s better late than never, Kurapika thinks.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kurapika &amp; Leorio Paladiknight, Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Leopika Family Brainrot [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2167689</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Where Our Bones Will Rest (To Dust, I Guess)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/kxrapikaz/gifts">kxrapikaz</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurapikano/gifts">kurapikano</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is for Fin &amp; Juno [sorry 4 stealing ur idea bestie/hj [i do feel bad though alksfhs]]<br/>i know we're all Going Thru It rn but you both mean the whole facking world to me and i can't say it enough. thank u for existing ily/p/gen</p><p>im not super happy w the end result but i wrote most of it while in a depressive panic so im immune to criticism/j rlly though this was a coping fic dedicated to the ppl i love and it helped me a lot so fuck it<br/>child is named Piero, a little bit of irl language is used [ty fin]<br/>[Title comes from '1979' by The Smashing Pumpkins]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leorio’s hand glides lazily over Kurapika’s swollen belly, adoring and reverent in his touch. They’re glowing in the early second trimester of their second pregnancy, their young son dosing with his head rested on his fathers lap, curled up and positioned against the last cushion on their beat up three-seater couch. His feet are pushed up and under the plush armrest, one bare, one with a sock slipping down his heel. </p><p>He should be carried to bed, tucked in and kissed goodnight because it’s past his bedtime, but the movie they’d been watching stretches on, volume turned so low the hum of the television is audible. Leorio presses deeper into Kurapika’s figure with a sigh both warm and loving, he’s grown tired as well after a long shift at work, preparing dinner and expending all of his remaining energy on gleeful playtime with Piero.</p><p>He’s a phenomenal father, Kurapika reminds themself, they’re infinitely thankful to have him as their husband, their life partner. To raise a family with him was a feat they never thought they’d live to achieve, but here they are. They’re at his side, carrying his child once more, soaking in the smells that linger on his skin in the evenings. Clean laundry, sterile wash and aftershave, cologne still clinging beneath the scent of <em> him, </em>reminiscent of sandalwood and laced with a warmth that couldn’t be described in all of Kurapika’s effort.</p><p>The calmness, the comfort, the serenity of <em> being, </em>they didn’t deserve it. Not after years of hate and rage and destroying life for their cause. They likely orphaned children, stole away loved ones with the clutch of their chains, careless and uninterested with their own life because nothing would matter once their goals had been met. </p><p>Once Kurapika’s mission had been completed, their perceived purpose fulfilled, the cause they would lay down their life for swept away in the winds of the fields where their clan was buried, the sun set, and they were sure they’d be dragged to hell. That would be okay, they thought.</p><p>But the sun rose every morning, and their heart was still beating, and there was air in their lungs, and ground beneath their feet. They fell in love with an old friend, or rather, they realized they’d fallen in love ages ago. Found an anchor for their hope after drifting without one for half of their life. They heal, they settle, they marry the man that waited for years despite himself. And there is no grand purpose for Kurapika to fill, only to <em> be, </em>and to live out their life, saved by Leorio and the child from the dark continent, with hands that stole away the weight of time ticking in their head.</p><p>It isn’t easy, there are days and nights where things seem just as hopeless as they’d been in the past, where they held their head in agony and disgust at the monster they’d become, the acts they’d never be freed from.</p><p>But Kurapika is… <em> alive. </em> They are worthy of the life they’ve been gifted and the people that surround them, and they’re floored in knowing that after years of ending and destroying lives, they could <em> create </em>life. Their beautiful son with his fathers smile, with Kurapika’s eyes, his skin freckled and soft and tawny and his fat baby cheeks that squash around his eyes when he grins, he’s present and alive and was brought into the world by someone that thought their story had ended.</p><p>There’s a second little one on the way, it kicks and stretches and quickens in Kurapika’s belly every day, and despite their struggles of carrying a child, the wonder of growing a brand new, tiny being inside of them left Kurapika speechless and enthralled all over again. </p><p>They were sure there was no reason to live beyond the reclaiming of their clans stolen eyes. But there was, there <em> is, </em>even if it means carrying the burdens of their past as they go forward.</p><p><em> Love, </em>and all of the little moments that bloom from it. What they’d been worthy of but unwilling to accept, but it’s better late than never, Kurapika thinks.</p><p>Leorio presses a kiss to the underside of their jaw, murmuring something as he rubs circles over the bump, and Kurapika is snapped from their reminiscence.</p><p>“I’m sorry, lovely, what did you say?” Their voice cracks around the words from the suddenness of the hushed tone, and Leorio laughs, lifting his hand from their belly to rest it on their cheek.</p><p>“I said I <em> love </em>you, sunshine. So much.” Their faces press together with a languid and lazily kiss that plants the taste of popcorn salt on Kurapika’s lips, and they don’t mind it. They savor it, they still in the moment and commit it to memory, for when they need affirmation, reminders, in their dark hours.</p><p>It’s <em> okay </em>to be alive, and to move forward, and find joy and love despite the past.</p><p><br/><br/>-----</p><p> </p><p>It’s even later in the night, as Kurapika lays on their left side with Leorio pressed into their back, half snoring, breathing into their hair. Their hands are intertwined over Kurapika’s chest, tangled in limbs and heavy sheets that had been sewn with cold hands, free of chains.</p><p>He’s a cuddler, that much they’d always known. But in time Kurapika had learned that Leorio wanted to be held just as much as he wanted to hold, asking to be the ‘little spoon’ or clinging onto them like a human koala. He was a teddy bear, a big puppy with dark eyes and sculpted muscle and a heart nearly too big for his own good.</p><p>Past the dark, hazy outlines of their own unburdened hands, with knuckles sharp and scarred, rest Leorio’s. Broad and thick, with dry palms from sanitizer and scrubbing in for work, they’re lighter than the rich olive tone that graces the rest of his figure and they’re always so warm. A bear’s paw draped lovingly over Kurapika’s body, always touching them <em> so </em> gently, tender and doting even in intimacy. </p><p>Yet their eyes lay open as they rest in his arms, repeatedly kicked by their baby in a sore spot between two ribs. Their head hurts, their stomach is at unease, they need rest and their mind runs out ahead of them.</p><p>“Ungi’gul?”</p><p>Their son’s sweet voice breaks from the doorway, his figure nearly invisible as a silhouette against the dark hall. They croak “Piero?” in response, and see him shuffle closer.</p><p>“Can I come to bed?”</p><p>“Gwi’s, of course, yes. But keep your voice down. Your father is sleeping.”</p><p>“I know,” he steps to the edge of the bed, blanket draped over his shoulders like a cloak. “he’s rumbling. Like a cat.” And Kurapika chuckles softly, because he’s right, Leorio’s sounds of slumber are low and deep in his throat, almost a purr. Little hands and knees dent the clustered sheets, mattress sinking beneath Piero’s body as he shifts close to Kurapika, pressing bare toes against his parent’s calves under a blanket.</p><p>“Did you have a bad dream?” Kurapika’s voice is barely a whisper, and their son shakes his head against the small space remaining on their pillow. He’s nearly falling off the bed, so the blonde pushes back against Leorio, he responds by moving boneless across the bed and pressing an unconscious hum through his lips. And so Piero scoots once more, one of Kurapika’s hands finding its way around his upper back, planting a kiss on his forehead.</p><p>“Can I uh… Can I listen to baby?”</p><p>With their vision adjusted to the dark, they can see Piero’s huge doe eyes looking expectantly back at them. Kurapika’s lip quivers and they nod, pulling their hand, still interlocked with Leorio’s, up higher over their chest.</p><p>Piero’s slid down the mattress, one little ear presses against his parent’s belly, his little hand accompanying it and rubbing in short back and forth motions that bring tears pricking in the corners of Kurapika’s eyes. Their heart is tender from reflection earlier in the night, and stresses are once again melting away into the touches and presence of their loved ones.</p><p>Piero presses closer, muttering “I love you” into crisp air. Whether he was talking to Kurapika or the baby, or both, it didn’t matter, because Kurapika runs their hand through his hair and smiles down at their son, their bump, three different hands and the sheer beauty of the moment, and they whisper back;</p><p>“We love you, too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>leopika family is free therapy its true.<br/>ty for reading i hope you enjoyed my silliness im so sorry i left swusm to rot i swear im working its just very slow because im busy w school and other projects and im chronically mentally dead &lt;3</p><p> </p><p>kudos + comments appreciated asf i hope you have a wonderful day, drink plenty of water and stay safe!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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